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Next week is National Apprenticeship Week 2017, co-ordinated by the National Apprenticeship Service nationwide. This annual event is designed to celebrate apprenticeships and traineeships and the positive impact they have on individuals, businesses and the wider economy. This year, Barnet Council and its partners have pledged to provide 82 apprenticeship opportunities in a variety of areas including business administration, social care, parks, passenger transport, waste and recycling, plumbing, electricity fitting and dry lining.

The scheme, run by the charity Novus - Homeshare, matches people who want live-in help or support around the house with people who need accommodation and are willing to offer assistance. Householders with a spare room receive 40 hours of help per month for tasks such as cooking, laundry, gardening, shopping and companionship.

The Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Brian Salinger, and Councillor Dean Cohen, took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony today (Tuesday, 13 March 2018) to open a memorial garden for Sir Nicholas Winton at Princes Park, Golders Green. Sir Nicholas Winton was a British humanitarian, who organised the evacuation of 669 children prior to the start of the Second World War. Most of the children were Jewish, and from Czechoslovakia, with the evacuation taking place on the eve of the Second World War.

7 Civic Award framed vellums were given for Lifetime Achievement and Outstanding Service to the Community. 15 other nominees were presented with a certificate scroll in recognition of their achievements. The Worshipful the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Brian Salinger said: “These awards celebrate the hard work and contribution these individuals have made to their community in Barnet. It is enriching to live in a borough which contains such selfless and motivated individuals who work endlessly to make Barnet a better place for others.”

Although the temperatures might not be hitting their usual heights, there are still plenty of things to do throughout the borough.

The funding was agreed at the Council’s Housing Committee on Monday evening. The total cost of the works, which are being commissioned in direct response to the Grenfell Tower fire, is £17.5million and includes funding of £10million that was approved by Housing Committee in June .The budget will be allocated from the council’s Housing Revenue Account, while the Council seeks funding from central Government.

This week, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Richard Cornelius, Chairman of the Environment Committee, Councillor Dean Cohen met with representatives from Re (Regional Enterprise), Barnet Council’s Highways delivery partner, and members of the Conway AECOM team who provided a demonstration in Cowper Road, Southgate, of a new machine that helps fix potholes.

The first schools to take part in the scheme to keep roads safe in the borough are Ayesha Community School and Whitings Hill Primary School. Penalty notices will also be sent for offences picked up by CCTV cameras on Cricklewood Broadway. Over the coming weeks penalty notices will be issued for parking or motoring offences near another 24 schools and road junctions. The CCTV cameras will be moved around up to 62 schools and traffic junctions over the coming months.

The changes mean that a new fine for child and teen library items will be introduced at 5p per item, per day. For adult books the fines will rise by 5p from 20p to 25p per item, per day. To make it easier for residents to reserve items already held in stock by Barnet’s libraries, the current £1 charge is being removed. From 1 December this reservation service will be free to use. Residents are able to renew books and other items they have on loan in a variety of ways including online, by phone and in person.

This year the council has received 7,407 applications; 3,957 from Barnet residents and 3,450 from residents in other boroughs. Of those who applied, nearly 70 per cent were successful in securing a place at their first choice of secondary school. This year over 86 per cent who applied were offered at least one of their top three preferences.